My buddy was saying that machines were a waste and that time was better spent with a single pair of weights. Well, he could be right, but a single pair of weights isn't the only other option; you can also use dumbbells. Anyway, the reasoning why machines are bad is cause they don't fit all body types and they don't force your body to use its max potential.
However, though, the case for machines seems stronger for certain parts of the legs, but probably there are dumbbell alternatives.
I don't see why they are. I think different ones are good for different things. However, it might be cheaper for most people to just go to the gym than buying their own machines.
I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but I heard that the reason one should seek alternatives to machines is that machines only makes the workout focus on one or a few specific muscles. Free weights etc will on the other hand give you a variation in this, because when you lift weights you'll probably not have the same width between your hands or your legs every time. The result of such a variation is supposedly that you end up training other muscles in the area of the one that's the workout's intended muscle.
I use free weights mostly and on some occasions machines. However free weights allow you to target both muscles better. For example if your using a machine, your right arm could be doing more of the work making your left weaker. However with dumbells each arm has its own weight to handle.
I think that it totally depends on what you are setting out to achieve, whether using machines is a viable way to exercise or not. For the bodybuilder who wants to work on certain muscle groups, I think that using machines is a good way to do that. If a person just wants to tone up their entire body and be in better physical condition, then I think that other forms of exercise are much better because you can exercise the whole body at once.
My husband is interested in body building, and he has a regular regimen of weights and exercise machines that he uses just about every day, and he has had a tremendous increase in his muscular strength since starting that type of workout.
My main goal, on the other hand, is not to develop specific muscles, but to add more strength and stamina to my whole body, and improve my health. I swim and do water exercises when we go to the fitness center, and I have lost fat, and gained muscle since I started doing this.
At first, I could not even swim the length of the pool without stopping to rest; but now I exercise for an hour and feel good afterwards.
We go to the fitness center almost every other day, depending on what our schedule is for the day, and it is something that we both look forward to doing.
